Health in Tofino · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
People in Tofino’s health region live to 79.8 on average, 1.7 years short of the typical Canadian town
In the health survey, 47% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Tofino is well placed: 2.0 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. The Health grade for Tofino is B, #175 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,943 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
British Columbia: 50% · Area-wide: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy, counted over the Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area
Chronic conditions
16%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Tofino’s region falls short of what its deprivation score of 2.8 predicts: 79.8 years against 81.7. For its deprivation ↓
Self-rated health runs low
Even once age is allowed for, 5.1 points fewer adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (44% as answered). Health survey ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Health Grade
Tofino grades B for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (47%)Better than 18% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (16%)Better than 58% of Canadian towns
Smokers (12%)Better than 76% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (79.8)Better than 37% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (2.0 km)Better than 85% of Canadian towns
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #175 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,943 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
For its deprivation
Behind regions as deprived by 1.9 years of life
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Tofino’s region comes out below the trend.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 2.8 about 81.7 years of life. Tofino’s region falls short of it, at 79.8. All 10 regions closest to it on the index live longer; their middle figure is 81.3 years.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
Health survey
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 44% to 50%
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
44%
Health fair or poor
17%
Mental health very good or excellent
46%
Mental health fair or poor
17%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
59%
Satisfied with life
82%
British Columbia
On mental health the region is behind British Columbia, 46% very good or excellent to 49%; 22% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Conditions and habits
In the region, high blood pressure (23%) and diabetes (6.9%)
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
23%
Arthritis
31%
Diabetes
6.9%
Obese (self-reported)
32%
Mood disorder
15%
Anxiety disorder
14%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
11%
Smoke every day
8.3%
Heavy drinking
22%
British Columbia
Self-reported obesity, 32%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 22% to the province’s 19%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
Getting care
Getting to hospital from Tofino: 2.0 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Tofino’s own, not the region’s.
Hospital
2.0 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
81 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
1.9 km
residents’ average distance
2.2 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Tofino is on the near side.
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
•
Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Tofino itself is the trip to care.
•
What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
•
Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
•
Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
Questions about health in Tofino
How is Tofino’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Tofino’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Tofino?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Tofino?
For the health region that includes Tofino, women can expect 82.6 years and men 77.1 (2022/2024).
How far is Tofino from a hospital?
For everyday care, Tofino’s residents are 1.9 km from a pharmacy and 81 km from a clinic on average.
Photo: Buiobuione · CC BY-SA 4.0